I read this book in just a few days – it’s difficult to put down. I don’t like reviews where the reader is told the entire plot of the book so I certainly don’t want to say too much. The book is extremely well written, with interesting characters who are easy to get invested in and a very believable story taking place during truly horrific times.

Although there are lots of books that have been written about the holocaust, I haven’t read many that spend most of their time discussing the years before the actual WWII and Ben Elton manages to describe growing up as a Jew during those times very well. It’s in many ways a story about relationships but no less a story about how such terrible experiences affect different people, and how it affects people differently.

I saw that someone had written that this book should be part of school curriculum and I tend to agree. It manages to give us a large amount of historical information without the reader ever feeling they’re sitting in a history lesson. It’s always about the characters.

In short, I recommend you buy this book today!